Seeing All and Seeing Nothing

Kyo tensed visibly for a second or two, but calmly managed to reply, "Any particular tune or style, Miss?"

Aravis took a moment of silence to think, then from within the vast sleeves of her thin black coat drew a pair of blood red castanets. Hawk felt that he should probably question this, but when he saw that Taiken made no reaction nearing surprise, he kept quiet.

Kyo took them, obviously nervous, and held them as if they were made of glass. She clicked them a few times, as if testing them, then strode to an open space at the other end of the room. He saw her frown at her own reflection, and she kept her eyes carefully away from her audience.

He watched, curious, verging on confused. Suddenly the bards and dancers around him seemed incredibly superior to him, watching Kyo with knowing eyes.

With a final breath, she made a movement so deft and sudden, the castanets making a rippling click, and she stood gracefully with her arms in a careful arc above her. A pause, and she moved again, stepping forward, swinging her arms down to the small of her back. As the ribbons on her dancers garb fell to stillness, she began her flow again, this time not ceasing, the castanets continuing their tantalising clicking.

The smooth clapping resonated through the room, her toes pointed and her hips twisting and flowing. Her feet made rhythmic little steps, scuffing and stamping, and her arms made quick and snapping movements with each click.

He was mesmerised; every arc of her arms, every clap of her hand, every tap of her toe, every flick of her hip… he couldn't tell where to look, as every bit of her was part of such graceful and sure motion. His entire being went blank, completely lost in the wonderful spirit of this new intoxicating Kyo.

She came to a deft halt, her legs and torso still for a tingly moment, before the click of the castanets came rolling in and she swirled her hips in elegant swooping circles. She then tapped her sandals rhythmically a few more times, made the final resonating clicks of the little instruments in her hands, an eloquent turn, a stamp of her foot and a swirl of her hand, and she was finished.

She stood tall and amazing, a healthy flush in her cheeks, one hand on her hip and the other delicately hung over her head. If Hawk had tried before to pretend not to notice how beautiful she was, he couldn't now. Her coppery hair had a brilliant sheen, the braid it was in swaying with her slightest movements. Her waist was slim and smooth, and there was a definite feminine curve in her hips. Her heart-shaped face was framed with velvety strands of hair, her eyes so vivid and bright. In fact, everything about her was just so… so… perfect.

Everyone was clapping, and Hawk joined them, a genuine smile over his features. Chisel was whooping, Taiken was whistling and Tassy was jumping up and down like a lunatic (Hawk wondered briefly if she was a blonde clone of Ruriko.) Kyo let out a breath she was apparently holding in and relaxed, smiling somewhat sheepishly.

"A true gypsy in the making," exclaimed an instructor, beaming.

"Truly," agreed Aravis, making Hawk inwardly leap with joy. "I'd say you have what it takes to join our school, Miss Kyo. And my daughter can stop whining about her lack of a roommate. I do believe we can initiate you into our lessons in three days."

Kyo was nodding very fast, wearing an irremovable smile.

"This way, please," said one of the dancers in a smooth, low voice. She took Kyo by the shoulders and led her out.

x-x-x

As night crept in, Taiken went on his annual walk with Tassy. She had been a little girl when he had gone to school, and almost regarded him as an uncle or a cousin. The pair ambled along the beach, Tassy talking energetically about what had happened since he last visited, making him feel nostalgic his time at the school, the soothing waves gently clapping against the shore. The once golden beach was now a just a murky strip of sand, stretching forever, the sky above them silken blue, the clouds violet swirls and the stars just winking themselves awake.

The dancer was going over some of the strange things they did in acting arts classes; Comodo placed a lot of emphasis on music, but it was a school of the performing arts. She gabbled about a "spon-spon imp" – sponsored spontaneous improvisation – a random performance in which they were given one line, and from it they would make up a scene as they went along. He missed doing them; it was just impossible to not go over the top, and they were always hilarious.

"I got paired up with Leo, and you know what he's like," she explained, rather quickly. "He decided to thwack me across the face, then dispose of the evidence. So he dragged off by my feet, and then he dropped me, which really hurt, and looked all "argh!" then said, "It's me sweetheart!" Then I yelled, "You're not my real mother!""

"Oh, ancient gods, I bloody hope not," he laughed.

"You know, I'm quite jealous of Kyo," she said out of nowhere.

"Why?"

"Well, that dance she did was amazing, but um…" She bit her lip and looked around nervously, checking that the beach was truly empty. "Did you see the way that Hawk looked at her? Are they in love? Are they married?"

He blinked, a little astonished, then laughed. "No, they're not married," he replied. "It's a bit of a lengthy tale, and it all starts with the way Hawk is. He doesn't trust. At all. We've been friends for two years, but I don't think he trusts me. Now, he stumbles upon Kyo somewhere along the northern border, injured, incapable of moving, kind of delirious, and all in all, a little doomed. And you what he does? He picks her up and carries her about a hundred miles back to our HQ."

Tassy made a girly little gasping noise and placed her hands over her heart. "Aww… that's so cute! And slightly physically impossible…" She paused. "But why? I thought he doesn't trust."

"Exactly. And he talks loads with her. He's said more to her than he has to the entire guild put together. And he tells her things that he would never tell us. Do you know he told her about his childhood? His childhood? But as for the guild, the people he lives with, the people who quite frequently place their lives in his hands and vice versa, the people who are meant to be his comrades, for all we know, some teenage hunter could just have materialised in the middle of nowhere and somehow found us."

"Well, maybe she's like his best friend…"

"Ah, but now you mention this way he was looking at her. What was it like?"

"Amazed," she said instantly. "But he was smiling, quite faintly, like he was proud of her. And it looked like he was in a bit of a daze, like all he could see was her. It was all dreamy and adoring and… You had to see it, it was so cute!"

"I've gone all fuzzy inside," cackled Taiken.

"Oh no, Taiken. If they like each other like that, they'll get together on their own."

"We're talking about two of the shyest people on Midgard," he retorted incredulously.

"Hey Taiken!" someone called from further up the beach. Taiken whirled around, expecting it to be Hawk, arms folded over his chest, falcon looming above them, a cold and angry frown over his face, impatiently tapping his foot.

But it was Chisel, striding towards them, and, for some indiscernible reason, trailing his cart with him, for whatever reason.

"We have to go back up to the school quickly," he explained. "Official God's Cry business."

x-x-x

Finally, Chisel and Taiken trudged through the double doors of the vast dance practise room. Hawk turned to look at Kyo, tense and leaning uneasily against the wall. She shrunk back into the humble and shy young woman, but Hawk thought she looked different since he'd seen her dance.

"Are you OK?" he asked, frowning. Alder took off from his shoulder and hovered around the air in front of her. She held out an arm, on which the bird landed, running her hands through its feathers, and holding it like a newborn child.

She didn't turn to face him, but she whispered back, "I don't know. I'm not sure I want to be here, but I have to stay. It's important, I think."

He nodded, still watching her.

"Firstly, when we get home, we have to go down into Anthell and kill a big pink blobby thing that's lurking around in there," said Chisel.

"A giant poring?" asked Taiken innocently.

"Not exactly. It was huge, hungry and it called itself Phreeoni. It kicked Oshi's arse when he first met it. It's definitely a lot more powerful than your average creature."

"Hmm… Anything else we should know about it?" asked Hawk.

"It acts like a leader," replied Kyo. "It orders the other creatures what to do, and they do it."

"Fair enough, fair enough. So what else?"

"I would like to point out," announced Chisel. "That this is Oshi's idea, and I'm just going along with it because he's a stubborn git."

Oshi snorted. "Kyo, forward please."

Reluctantly, Kyo lifted herself from her leaning place and walked to the centre of the room in front of Oshi, and Alder flew in a graceful arc back to its master. The assassin took a heavy dark fabric, walked around her and tied it over her eyes, whispering something in her ear as he went. Hawk felt something unpleasant stir in his chest.

Oshi quickly waved his hand in front of her face to check that she couldn't see. He then strapped a small round shield to her arm, took a plain wooden cane in his hands, and stood about ten metres from her.

"Remember Kyo: listen to your intuition, and trust it. Do that, and I shouldn't be able to hit you," he told her. Hit her? She nodded and stood ready.

Oshi began moving, strafing slowly around her. Hawk tried to listen for the assassin's footsteps, and found only silence.

With no breeze to be betray him, Oshi raised the cane over his head, his narrow eyes fixed vigilantly on Kyo, who clasped the shield on her arm tightly with her free hand. Stepping silently still, he ran at her from her left, blindingly fast, and brought his weapon tearing down through the air. Hawk was thinking of intervening, but with a hollow thud, she spun around and blocked the attack.

Hawk blinked; Kyo was blindfolded, and Oshi hadn't made the slightest noise when he advanced. There was a satisfied smile on his face, and he struck again – a horizontal swipe, which she deflected. He struck from above, the right, above again, and she deflected them. The left, the right, a thrust, then he commenced a myriad of attacks too fast to see, and she deflected all of them. He then stood in his normal fighting stance, and attacked, his arms and his weapon becoming a blur of strikes and swipes, so rapid and deadly. Hawk thought quickly, with a slight wince, of his own close-quarter fighting, which left quite a lot to be desired.

But Oshi's weapon never struck its target. Kyo was able to strafe around most of the attacks, and block the ones that were too wide to dodge. If Hawk didn't know any better, he would have thought that she was faster than Oshi. All the time, she retained her natural dexterous grace that came with her craft. She was so deft and precise; she looked like she was dancing again.

Oshi swiped heavily to the left, which Kyo dodged, then suddenly, she raised her foot and with a swift and powerful kick sent his weapon out of his grasp and straight up into the air. He looked surprise, but wasted no time in lifting his other arm to catch it. Whether she saw or not was not important, as she quickly leapt up and landed on his forearm. Stood on the tips of her toes, she clasped her shield with both hands, holding it like a racket, and swung it around. It collided with the cane, sending it flying to the other end of the room.

She stepped down from his arm and removed the blindfold, a pant in her breath and a flush in her cheeks.

"Am I OK?" she asked, her eyes a little wide and anxious. "Did I pass?"

"OK?" scoffed Taiken incredulously. "You just sparred with Oshi and won… blindfolded."

"Oh… sorry," she said, bowing her head a little.

"Honestly woman," laughed Chisel teasingly. "What are we going to do with you."

She smiled. "Is it alright if I go to sleep now? It's just it's been a bit of a long day, and-…"

"Yes, I'll show you to your room," said Taiken, striding forward and grabbing her by the arm. "You know Kyo, you're way too polite…"

As Taiken's voice faded out of earshot, Hawk looked to Chisel and Oshi for an explanation.

"What was that all about?" he asked, his voice unwillingly faint.

"We're not sure," replied Chisel evenly.

"I think we need to take her to the Masters of Yuno, or at least Ruriko," murmured Oshi.

"But… how?" Hawk whispered, a little dazed, Alder's soothing presence not reaching his brain. "How did she do it? I know she had more than enough potential to enter the mage caste, but only with proper magical training should she have been able to sense you. And she couldn't see through that blindfold… Could she hear you?"

"Could you?"

-X-X-

Draco was still unnerved about the encounter with Lord of Death, no matter how much she tried to not be so. In all actuality, they had the upper hand and should have pursued, but it was just too difficult to believe that it had been able to survive the bout.

She sat in her bedroom at Yuno, twirling numerous throwing knives over her deft fingers, waiting for her hair to dry from her bath. It was strangely soothing; the sharp glitter of the little blades, the silent breath on the air as she fanned them out in her palm, the fact that they were always close at hand…

She sat there for an indeterminable period of time, her eyes glazed and her mind blank, apart from the instinctive awareness of her environment. There was a shy little knock at the door, which she replied with a bland "come in."

The door was edged open, and Ruriko stepped through, wearing a long white silk nightdress. She looked strange without her witch's hat and thick gloves and boots.

"Is something the matter, little sister?" Draco asked, keeping her vision on her knives.

"I just can't sleep," Ruriko replied after a pause.

"A little scared by Lord of Death?"

She nodded.

"Fair enough," Draco said evenly. "But I intend on talking to you about Akiro."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ruriko tense visibly, making her smile. Ruriko stood where she was for a while, but sat on the bed next to Draco.

"One thing though, Sis?" she asked timidly.

"What's that then?" whispered Draco, putting an arm around the little sage.

"Could you put those knives down? You're really creeping me out…"

Draco laughed, but did as requested without a word.

As the silence ticked on, a silence she suspected was horribly awkward for Ruriko, the younger said, "What about Akiro?"

Draco scoffed. "Do you like him?"

"He's my friend."

"OK, Ruriko, you misunderstand. I mean like as in love."

"Well, Sis, I love you, and I love Orius, so I guess…"

"This is a different kind of love," interjected Draco quickly, not sure how to explain her point. "This is more about one person to devote yourself entirely to. That's why people get married; because they want to be with each other forever."

"But I want to be with you forever, Sis. Life without you, Sis, would be like… not life."

"This is still different." She was sure if Ruriko was "too young and innocent" to hear of the tumultuous and rapid world of passion and romance. "This is the kind of love where you express your feelings physically."

"You mean like how we kiss and hug?"

"This is a bit more physical than that…"

"This is really confusing," whined Ruriko, pouting. "It sounds like how I love you and our friends, but you make it sound so different."

"Well, that's exactly what it is. You're growing up, and you will learn about it, one way or another."

"I thought I was grown up."

"Fifteen is not a very big number, sweet sister."

Ruriko frowned, and shifted back to the original topic. "So what does Akiro feel?"

"Well," laughed Draco. "Why don't you ask?"

Ruriko looked startled, and her mouth floundered with silent and pointless protests.

"Exactly," declared the older woman, taking the other by the shoulders and steering her along on her way. "Just go and ask him. What's the worst thing he could do?" she whispered assuredly as Ruriko strode away, obviously tense. She would ask him; she knew there was no way of getting around it.

Draco smiled, and remembered the first and last time she had been in love. She remembered being a simple teen, only knowing what it was like to live on the streets, and he came, and with no sense and no restraint she went everywhere with him. She remembered that suddenly one day she knew that she felt something special. She remembered that suddenly she'd blurted it out, and just as suddenly, he had swept her up in his arms and kissed her with everything he felt.

She shook herself out of her memories, remembering how everything had fallen apart. She just smiled at the silken figure, whose heart was on the same voyage, melting into the shadows of the school's stone corridors.

She turned back to her throwing knives, trying to not think of her first love. And of course, trying to not think about him made her think about him…

And the broken heart he had left her…

x-x-x

Ruriko pounded across the cold stone floors, dazed, and an incomprehensible buzz running through her mind. She was fitfully curious about what Akiro would say, but so very horribly nervous about asking him in the first place. And where the Hel was she supposed to find the courage to ask him such a question? She felt so young and ignorant. Fifteen is not a very big number.

And in her ignorance, she'd long sunk from her certainty. Would she like what she heard? Would she even ask? And if she asked, what if something happened between them and she didn't have any control over it? Would it even be a bad thing if it did? What if it destroyed "them", and she could never love him again, as a friend or…?

She nearly walked headlong into Akiro's door, then wondered whether she should knock or not. She raised her arm, but kept drawing it back, biting her lip. Should I?

Her knuckle collided with the door; the knock sounded so strange that it made her jump and wonder if it was real.

There was a sleepy groan that sounded like "come in." He'd answered! Well, what did you expect? Everything was so difficult… She clamped a stiff hand around the door handle and tugged, and strode into the darkness.

"Hello," said Akiro from his bed, not masking his surprise. She saw with a twang of guilt that she'd woken him up.

"Sorry," she muttered quickly. "I didn't mean-…"

"Don't worry about it," he replied, just as quickly. "Was there something the matter?"

"I just can't sleep," she said with a shrug, inwardly wincing. How stupid do you sound… She sat on the corner of his bed. It was only then that she became very aware of just how conspicuous she was in her nightdress, and that it probably made her look quite pretty.

"Just not tired?"

"Well, you know how Lord of Death survived that fight thing we had with it and it shouldn't and you and the Masters are the bestest magic people on Midgard and Sis is so very strong and we battered the living Hel out of it and it really really should've died but it didn't?" she gabbled in one breath.

"… Yes."

"And remember when we were looking for it and we couldn't find it and then I looked again and I found it and then I was in its mind and then I guess I must have gone all weird but it wasn't very nice being in its head because it was so obsessed with killing and it thought that it needed to kill or else it would die or something if it didn't kill and Fieri had been in its head before and she was so very explicit about us getting rid of it because of that?"

In the dim silvery light of that lamps neither had bothered to ignite, she saw him sit up, smiling. She also saw that his chest was bare and his hair was down, and she realized with a prick of amazement that she had never seen any of these things before. She turned away, feeling the heat rise in her face, but not quickly enough to notice the strong build and charming smile.

She sensed his gaze on her as they both sat in the most soothing of silences. After perhaps a second or more, he laughed quietly.

"What?" she asked, startled.

"You speak so fast. I thought you were going to run out of breath and pass out."

She wasn't sure how to reply to that; she felt that maybe she should smile, but that would involve looking at him, which she didn't dare do. So she just smiled to herself.

"You don't need to worry about it. Orius says he's going to keep a nerve out for it, and the next time we meet it, it'll go splat, see?"

She laughed; that sounded like the kind of thing she would say.

"And besides, do you think Draco will let that thing touch you? Or Orius? Or the Masters? Or me? I won't let that thing get anywhere near you."

x-x-x

He realized now that he was the one gabbling, and that he'd said too much. He kept his head down, but could see her smiling still. If he thought he was nervous about being around her, it was nothing compared to now. Oh, ancient gods, help…

And of all the things she could've worn… She looked so many years older, but so vulnerable and delicate, her hair shining in the silver of the moon behind the window. Please, just open up a hole in a ground and let me fall. Seriously.

He expected her to scoff, or laugh, or get up and leave. But he found her slender little hands clasping his. He felt himself blush, and tentatively lifted his eyes to meet her gaze, as usual taken aback by her intensity.

"You mean it?" she whispered.

Relieved, he relaxed and smiled, unaware up until now how tense he was. He nodded.

"Really?"

He nodded again.

"Really really?"

"Yes, you daft woman," he laughed, squeezing her hands lightly. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled more, and she returned the little gesture. Then without any warning whatsoever, she flung her arms around his middle and rested her cheek over his heart. He blinked a few times, immensely surprised. Slowly, he edged his immobile hands down, and slipped his arms around her, one hand absent-mindedly stroking her hair, and the other held her waist, soft behind the silk.

"So you really care?" she said, her voice somewhat muffled against his chest. She ran her fingers over his collarbone, and her breath on his skin kind of tickled.

"About you? I care about you very much."

He felt her smile and lean more into him, a little rush of pleasure flying down his spine. Is this real? Maybe it was all a dream, and when he woke up, he wouldn't be able to say what he had said and hold her close. It definitely felt like a dream, but his heart beating like the wings of a swan inside him made him sure he was in the land of the awake.

He wanted so badly to kiss her, but he didn't know if she would like that; she seemed so happy at the moment, and he didn't want to ruin it. Although he kept running over the thought in his head, imagining how wonderful it would feel to have her lips pressed fondly to his… But in this case she should make the first move.

They lay there for quite some time, their breathing slow. Neither knew how long. He opened his eyes, admiring the way the silvery light fell in glowing ribbons over her features, the moon reflected in her eyes. She looked like a glorious celestial being, so beautiful and bright and pure; he thought he would never be worthy of her.

She reluctantly pulled away, smiling apologetically.

"Akiro?"

"Ruriko?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"I'm feeling much very better now."

She stood up, adjusting the straps of her nightdress and making her way towards the door.

"And Akiro?" she said quietly before she left. "I care too. About you. I care."

He nodded.

"Good night."

"You too," he whispered back, watching his Ruriko float out of view.

He couldn't remember every being so happy in his life. He'd told her he cared, and she was grateful. She was scared, and he'd made her feel strong again. And she said she cared too.

Akiro was smiling so much that his face was beginning to hurt. He still had so many other things he needed to say to her, but he had at least said something. He'd managed to say something about his feelings. Maybe when he saw her next, they would talk more about their feelings, and they would hold each other, and then maybe he'd say "I love you" and…

He shook his head, feeling foolish, and he laughed inwardly at his soppy little imagination. A thought shaped like his mother told him in the most amazingly patronising tone possible to go to sleep.

-X-X-

"We've pilfered a couple of rooms from the Seniors dormitory for the next couple of days," Taiken explained off-handedly. "So I guess we'll stick you in with Tassy."

"OK," answered Kyo, her mind back in the studio where she had just… she didn't know, and she didn't like it. It felt so strange, seeing everything without seeing anything at all, sick with fright and wondering what this inhuman gift of hers was and whether she deserved it or not. Even if she could see more than everyone else, did it still mean she was… human? Her feet felt light, as if to dodge, but not to support her weight. There was still the anticipation of attack running through her, and she was so tried. She wanted nothing more than to lie down. "Taiken, what… was that?"

He remained silent for a about a second. "I don't think any of us are entirely sure."

At those words, she felt a heavy disappointment, though it wasn't a surprise. "Was it because you thought I could… see more?" She tried to keep the nervous quiver out of her voice. "Because honestly, I'm just a normal person. I was just lucky…" It sounded like a plea, and the words tasted false in her dry mouth.

Taiken shook his head behind her and sighed. "Kyo, you're a strong girl, but you're far too shy. It's important that you learn to be more self-confident."

Kyo said nothing; that's what she'd learnt to do when people told her she was too quiet. Her teachers at Arie had told her she was too shy and needed to be more self-confident. Her mother had said it, her friends had said it… Hel, even a travelling alchemist selling vitality potions had said it. She knew it was a problem; it was fairly obvious. But there are no lessons to be taken or books to be read on how to be confident. When there was a dance she couldn't do, she simply had a lesson on how to do it right. But this was a flaw in her character, something set deeply within her. And of course, it had remained so for too long. She felt something along both annoyance and despair. "Just change the way you've been for most of your life." Sure Taiken.

"I know it's hard," he said apologetically, making Kyo wince at her previous spitefulness. "But really, you'll be much happier."

"I know," she sighed. "I just don't know how."

"You'll work it out. You're stronger than you think."

She turned to smile at him, and he did the same; a fond smile, as though they were brother and sister.

They came to a large ebony door engraved with "Girl's Dormitory: Seniors" in grand silver letters. Below it hung a piece of paper with seven names written in various brightly coloured inks – she quickly spotted Tassy's and Kura's – and around it was littered sweet little schoolgirl doodles. In the centre, in red swirled handwriting, was a message:

"We are the dancers of Comodo,
The most dexterous and beautiful,
The most vexing and graceful.
We laugh and we smile and we enchant.
Come! Stay a while. Watch us dance,
For we are the dancers of Comodo.

(And yes, we do indeed have breasts. One more word about them and we'll relocate your nuts.)"

They strode through the door, Kyo still frowning at the notice (or maybe just the last line.) The corridor was set out in floor-length wooden panels that served as frames for grand and elegant paintings. She set her eyes on one of a scene over a river. A score of dragonflies fluttered over the silvery ripples, their wings shimmering and lovely, and each a crackling jade green in colour. The reeds that erupted from unseen roots rose tenderly above the water's surface, their pale curved edges soft and sharp. A wonderful crane was landing, in half flight, wings buffeting the water and each feather delicately and lovingly stroked onto the scene. Every line, every curve, every shadow… it was so beautiful. She expected it to spring to life; it was more than easy to see the crane continue its landing, stirring the wind over the river, which would ripple and rush, its vibrant host of dragonflies darting and dancing through the air. If she went and ran her fingers along the bird's neck, she would feel soft feathers; that star alight in its eye couldn't lie. It had to be real.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" said Taiken, from somewhere seemingly faraway. It was only now that Kyo realized that she had stopped and lost all awareness of… everything. Except the painting.

"Who painted them?"

"There's an old story," he replied quietly. "Note: only a story. Not necessarily true." He sighed. "But I like to think that is true. They say that a couple of hundred years ago, maybe more, a travelling merchant stumbled along a church one cold and stormy night, starved and tired. A girl who worked at the church – an acolyte in training to become a priest – found him and brought him there. He stayed there for four years – until he was eighteen, in fact."

"He didn't leave?"

"He fell in love with the acolyte. Anyway, she loved him too, and they were in love, and very happy together. But one day, he received a letter from his mother, telling him that his father was dying; he had to return home, to become a blacksmith and continue the family business. He had to leave her. Of course, he begged her to go with him. But was to become a priestess, and insisted that she couldn't abandon her religion. He said the same thing about his family and left, and eventually earned his permit to be a blacksmith.

"She became a priestess, but she also carried his child, which she hid, since they weren't married and the child would be illegitimate. But one night, he came to her in a dream, and he said it would be their last night together. And the next morning, she received a letter from his mother, telling her that he was dead. Not more than a few days after that, she bore him a daughter. When the child was born, the church took it from her and the baby was taken to be raised as a serving girl somewhere. She left. It's said that she took off her priestess garb, tore where her heart was when she wore it, poured blood on it, and ran out of the church, bearing a new name, her hair cut short and wearing a novice girls outfit. She wanted to start again, and in her sadness she became an artist, and these are hers."

All of Kyo's energy from her fight with Oshi ebbed away; it didn't feel right to be so anxious after hearing the story. She turned back to the crane over the water, feeling herself slipping into a beautiful and elegant world carved by hands that shook with grief.

As they went through the corridor, she kept her eyes carefully down away from the walls, afraid to be lost again in the world so real and gentle, afraid that the artist's remorse was contagious. She wondered if all art would now remind her of loss and despair.

They came to a pale door, and stopped. Taiken reached out and gingerly knocked, snapping the silence. There were few long strides heard, and it was flung open, and there stood Tassy, smiling and holding a hairbrush.

"Tassy, Kyo will be sleeping in your room for next three nights," he said.

"Taiken, we only arranged it a couple of hours ago," she replied, pale red lips curved into a smirk. "I do have a memory span greater than that of a mandragora."

Though Kyo had only known Tassy for half a day, she had to admit she admired her. For a start, she possessed a kind of shining exotic beauty that Kyo could never hope to achieve. She had sleek silvery blonde hair that fell to her waist, and vivid pale blue eyes. Her wrists, neck and even her ankles were adorned with glittering rings of gold, and two heavy earrings were glistening beneath the cascade of shining hair. She wore the expected dancers garb, but she also wore translucent pink trousers over her, the form of her limbs still visible through them but a definite rosy sheen with the material. The stream of fabric that fell over the back of her legs was a more peachy pink in hue, and lined with tassels. She carried a lustrous ribbon around her shoulders, which was pink in some parts of the light, white in others.

She turned to Kyo, smiling, and said softly, "Come in."

Kyo nodded absent-mindedly, and stepped in. The floor was clear, but the surfaces were fairly cluttered. The walls, ceiling and floor was pure white, but with the mismatched furniture and various young girl's clutter, it didn't have the sterility that came with the colour. There were two beds at opposite sides of the room, an overlarge looking wardrobe, a small bookshelf and a desk.

"Wow, Tassy," said Taiken. "There's actually a floor beneath all your junk. And where are all your clothes? They're not in the wardrobe, are they?"

"Shut up, Taiken, before I make you eat your own fingers."

"… I see cotton swabs. Kyo! Don't look at the ear cleaning facilities!"

"Oh, honestly, Taiken… It was a story."

"You couldn't have thought of something that made a bit more sense though?"

"Well… no."

"So, when you girls take ages preening yourselves, is that what you're doing? Swabbing?"

Tassy smirked and closed the door on the cynical Taiken, who quickly called through the door, "I don't hear you denying it!"

She turned back to Kyo, smiling and mouthing the words, "Don't ask."

Tassy, though keen for a nice little girly chat, was courteous enough to let Kyo go straight to sleep. The bed was comfortable, and she lay there under the covers for a while, wondering why she was so happy. It wasn't that her performance had gone OK, it wasn't that she had experienced what it was to sing again, it wasn't her interesting new roommate…

She's missed Hawk when he'd left for Comodo; she'd felt… vulnerable when he wasn't there. She knew the others cared and were strong and capable, but she felt truly safe when Hawk was around. Now that they were near each other, her security returned.

She had also heard Taiken complain about the way Hawk spoke openly to her; she felt she could speak openly with him. For some reason, there was no shyness. She'd tried talking the same way to Oshi and Chisel, but it just didn't work; she just couldn't form the words. They hadn't had the opportunity to talk properly yet, but she felt so much better, just knowing that he was there.

She giggled to herself under the covers. She still didn't know why.

-X-X-

Ruriko ran a comb through her hair, humming and smiling. She was in such a good mood. She still felt tingly and surreal, as though she still lay in Akiro's arms. And she found she had unearthed feelings she never knew she had – she still had no idea what they were, but they were good feelings. She tried writing it down in her diary, but she'd taken up at least three pages gabbling about how it felt.

As was her routine when staying in Yuno, she headed straight out into town. Yuno was made up of three segments: The largest was the island of glory, Solomon, where the pillar of light was, and a great majority of the housing. The island of intelligence, Sonotora, was where the library and the academy were. On the northwest island, Mineta the island of prosperity, was a heaving market square, among other things, which sold a wide variety of "mage's tat" as Draco called it. Ruriko didn't go to the market to buy things; it's just all of the "mage's tat" was always so pretty. It was just nice to see, and it was normally interesting to hear some of the strange little tales and explanations behind each item.

It was still quite early, and there was a crisp chill hanging over the morning air. There were only a few people around at the moment, and each would greet her, "Good morning, Lady Ruriko."

She kept wondering why people called her "Lady"; Draco had told her that only the wives or daughters of lords were titled that. When she'd asked why the people of Yuno call her it, Draco just laughed and replied, "They're just showing their respect for you. Live with it."

So Ruriko shrugged inwardly and just greeted them back. There were few children out at this time, but there were a few early rising adults, who would more often that not walk up to her and shake her hand. She was still taken aback by it all, especially since a lot of these people were a lot older than her, and most likely a lot wiser.

She quickly checked her diary to see if there was anything she needed to get. She quickly discovered that she was almost out of Rodusha cards. Rodusha meant "wise one", and Yuno was often called the "di rodusha sente": the city of the wise one. The cards were a different way of casting. Normally, a magician would say their chant for a spell out loud, but the Rodusha cards had a unique way of channelling magical energy, and it was discovered that a spell could be written on the cards and the energy stored, and released at the caster's will. They were good for quick spells, and a favourite of sages, since the main quality of a sage was that they could summon all of the energy they needed for a spell instantly.

Wizards, on the other hand, spent a lot of time in deep concentration, and so a lot of them were normally incredibly patient and calm. Their spells were much more powerful, but a lot of the time, it involved a lot of complicated movement of energy, and a lot more willpower.

The Rodusha cards were often used as a means of emergency defence or healing, as the only thing that was needed to activate them was the usual state of mind when casting, and the words "eno va shi stai": And so I fell. No one knew why, but stai had to appear in every spell, and the phrase normally only appeared in its entirety in a wizard's spells.

She quickly checked her supply of gemstones, which sometimes had to be used to channel energy, because in certain spells, the energy channelled can sometimes be harmful to the caster. She didn't understand it fully, but she had cast such spells without gemstones, and it had hurt; it had really hurt.

She came to the market square just as they were setting up. She scanned the crowd for the red cheeks and black hair of Angar, a man who had spent the best part of forty years as a crusader, and now, in his early fifties, had decided he just wasn't up to it anymore. He was a kind man, and very tall. He also still possessed a lot of the strength that came with spending too much time in heavy clunky armour.

She spotted him quickly and headed over. He was knelt over a large basket of gemstones when she arrived. He turned to face her, and smiled.

"I thought you'd forgotten I was alive," he laughed. "How have you been?"

"Good good," she replied, shaking his hand, and as usual, thinking her arm would break. "How's Runa's swordsmanship going?" Runa was his daughter, who was planning on following in her father's footsteps.

"When she comes back you can ask her; she's a crusader now."

"Ooh! That's great! Does she like it?"

He laughed, patting her on the shoulder and returning to the setting up of his stall.

There was a clink of armour, and Ruriko wheeled around. This had to be Runa. She'd never met Runa before, but there was something of her father in her tallness and silvery eyes and her shiny black wavy hair. She had pale skin, and her eyes, nose and mouth were quite narrow. She carefully held a cup in her hands, which she handed to Angar, smiling.

"Thank you, Runa. I would like you to meet Ruriko," he said, taking a sip from the cup.

Ruriko smiled, a little nervously, she suspected. For some reason, crusaders always had this scary intimidating kind of aura about them. Maybe it was the armour…

"Hi. My father has told me a lot about you," Runa said, shaking Ruriko's hand. What is it with swordsmen and their arm-breaking handshakes?

"She's the strangest kind of sage you'll get," said Angar from his kneeling position.

"Hey! Fieri's way weirder than me."

"Ah, but she's a teacher, so the loss of her sanity is a necessity."

"You just wait 'til I tell her you said that," replied Ruriko in a mock-threatening voice.

Runa left for a few minutes to get breakfast, and they sat and talked. From what she gathered from their conversation, Ruriko discovered that Runa was surprisingly gentle, and patient. It had taken her a year to master the basics of healing, and yet she never gave up, and had now mastered it completely. Ruriko actually felt a little jealous, listening to some of things Runa had let as both a swordsman and a crusader. She was now explaining about a spell she had now mastered.

"The Grand Cross is a slightly irritating spell," she explained in her soft voice. "It is incredibly powerful, but it is considered dangerous. But there's no known catalyst."

"Eh?" said Ruriko, trying to ignore the way Angar was nodding like he knew what she was talking about.

"You use catalysts Ruriko, but they're not always called that," he explained. "The gemstones…"

"Oh, right!" Ruriko paused. Then she remembered the last time she'd tried to cast a shield without using the required gemstone. "That must really hurt. But for a spell that powerful…"

"Yes, it's almost fatal, and in some cases, it is," replied Runa. "Some places don't teach it anymore. The Pronteran chivalry isn't that keen on it either. Also, it's a little at excessive in strength to be used on most monsters, so a lot of time, a good sword swipe is all that's needed."

"Oh yeah, I remember why I came here now," exclaimed Ruriko suddenly. "I need a deck of Rodusha cards."

"Not a problem," said Angar, smiling. He handed Ruriko the cards, and she persuaded him to let her pay.

"How do they work?" asked Runa. Ruriko was surprised and explained, though she found she was pretty bad at it. But Runa listened attentively anyway.

But along her explanations, she suddenly had an idea; she could channel any kind of magic through the Rodusha cards, and she could write any rune she wanted. She frowned inwardly at the idea, thinking it sounded a little too easy, and kept ambling along with her explanation.

It was about midday when she made up her mind to at least try. It couldn't hurt to try, and even if it did, it would be nothing she couldn't handle. She left, Runa shouting "Nice meeting you!" as she went. She was in a bit of a daze, her mind more active than her body, part of her screaming to not take such a risk. She shrugged it off, already drafting out what she was going to write on the card.

She stood still in her room, her head pounding and a shake in her limbs. She looked at the Rodusha cards in her hand, her mind tracing the lines of the spell she would place in it. If it was as easy as that, don't you think it would've already been done? Ruriko brushed the thought away, trying to ignore it. After seeing Lord of Death, and hearing of Arie's destruction, she decided that she should try it. For the greater good.

She knelt down, and in red ink, drew a circle with seven segments. In the top she wrote the rune "monster", and in the segments either side of it, she wrote Arie, Kyo and the Clock Tower, and Lord of Death. In the bottom segment, she wrote Akiro and herself. Around it, in black ink, she wrote "Iero profa" which meant "total revelation."

She stood up, and began to concentrate on the questions she wanted answering, pouring her will into the card. It seemed a long time that she did so, and she felt tired when she had finished. She stood up, surprised to find herself staggering.

Runa talking about the Grand Cross spell put her in mind of risks and that she didn't know what kind of energy she was channelling. Most spells only required one or two gemstones; she took three, just in case.

Ruriko took deep, steadying breaths, feeling the tension falling out of her body as she gulped down mouthfuls of air. She checked her card again, making sure it's aura and runes were correct. She clasped the gemstones in her hand tightly.

"Eno va shi stai."

The card ripped itself apart in her hand and disappeared in a silvery wisp of light. She felt the gemstones heat up, and she opened her palm, and saw them glow. But something was wrong; they couldn't channel the energy. They shattered into sparks, making her gasp and step back.

But now, something gripped her. Her bones were rigid with pain; she couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Her gasps for air were cut back to little chokes that gave her no relief. The most agonising hurt was ripping through her veins, her eyes wide. She tried to scream, but there was no voice in her throat. Help, help, help… She sank into blackness, her vision searing out of focus.

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